


Hurt

by Arilumen



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Background Relationships, Devil Lucio (The Arcana), F/F, F/M, Female Apprentice (The Arcana), Goat Lucio (The Arcana), Lucio (The Arcana) Is A Little Shit, Lucio (The Arcana) Route, Slow Burn, The Apprentice is not the main character, just for fun, messing up with the plot, relationships changing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:09:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23910595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arilumen/pseuds/Arilumen
Summary: This is a different take on Lucio's story, but it doesn't follow any particular route.Asra and his Apprentice fear for Vesuvia's safety while investigating the Count's death. When Thalia comes to town, looking for the source of a mysterious voice she hears, and determined to get her life back as before, she doesn't expect to get involved with the Court's messed up situation. Much less helping the narcissistic ghost we all know to get his body back.
Relationships: Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana), Lucio (The Arcana)/Original Female Character(s), Portia Devorak/Nadia
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Premise: this is my first english fanfiction.  
> You may find some mistakes in it since this is not my mother tongue. Therefore, any constructive comment will be appreciated.

It was midday, and the sun was unbearably hot in Vesuvia.  
The hood shielded the light coming from above but was useless against the blinding brightness glaring from the white stones of the streets and right into her eyes.  
She hurried, looking for shade to rest and dry the sweat running on her forehead.  
The city was beautiful, alive with people talking and laughing in the streets, full of shouting peddlers trying to draw attention to their merchandise. Everyone was apparently unaffected by the heat, maybe accustomed to it by living near the desert.  
  
 _"You came... At last."_  
  
The voice was just a whisper at the edge of her consciousness, but it sent shivers down her spine nonetheless. Her hand shot out covering the right side of her face, a sudden sharp sensation sending jolts of pain on her skin, giving her goosebumps, and drawing a moan from her throat. She leaned on the closer wall, hiding her face from the passersby.  
These episodes were nothing new to her.  
The first time she heard that voice was in a dream. She remembered opening her eyes abruptly in the middle of the night, breath short and ragged, the lack of air in her lungs making her dizzy and her vision blurry with rivulets of sweat sliding from her forehead down to her cheekbones and neck.  
"It was just a nightmare, just a nightmare," she kept repeating those words like a mantra while trying to focus on her breathing. But the dread gnawing at the pit of her stomach didn't go away. Instead, it kept growing into a lump in her throat until it was nearly choking her.  
She found herself outside, on her knees, nails digging in the desert's sand, while the night's cold breeze tingled the hair on the back of her head already dampened from sweat. Waves of nausea threatened the food in her stomach to come back, the taste of acids already in her mouth, burning her throat.  
After that night, the whispers never left her. With time she seemed to get better, and symptoms such as nausea or dizziness disappeared. Instead, she started getting terrible headaches.  
The voice spoke to her of a city, its words so vibrant she swore she could almost see it, filled with life, colours, and people. That image left behind an omnipresent feeling of longing, guiding her towards something, somewhere past the desert. She started following it. And there she was, crossing the crowded streets of Vesuvia, unable to ignore or understand the growing loneliness and hate blooming in her chest.  
She stood up from the wall, fixed the bag on her shoulders, and resume her wandering, trying to remember a map she saw in some merchant's hand at the marketplace.  
She was near; she could sense it through the pull at her mind. But near what, that she wasn't yet able to tell.  
To her left, a wooden sign dangling from a stake on the wall indicated the presence of a tavern. She approached it, pushing the door open and entered.  
It felt cooler inside, the stone walls blocked the sun and the heat, keeping the ambiance at a pleasant temperature but in the dark.  
The only light coming through small and high-placed windows was dimmed by some thick and long curtains, leaving the place illuminated just by the lanterns on all the tables. There was a counter across the room, and behind it, shelves full of bottles of various types of beverage. Alcohol, she concluded with a rapid glance.  
"We're closed." a rough voice spoke from the counter in front of her, a large shadow behind the bar.  
"Do you have rooms? I'm looking for a place to rest." she asked while she approached.  
The shadow, a nearly-bald man with large shoulders and a dirt-stained white shirt, stopped whatever he was doing -cleaning the counter, she guessed- and looked her in the eyes.  
"We're closed." he repeated, his tone more intimidating.  
She got closer, dropping a satchel that landed with a clanging sound on the counter. The man eyed it, aware that the bag contained more coins than any of the rooms in his tavern would ever cost.  
"I'll pay" her words were unnecessary, but she needed to cut the heavy silence which befell the tavern. The man, gaze fixated on her, took the satchel and turned, starting to rummage into a box, his back to the counter. Eventually, he tossed her a key.  
"First floor. The last door on the right." he said, pointing at the staircase to his left.  
Once in her room, she dropped her baggage on the floor. Despite the shabby appearance of the tavern, the place was clean and tidy, with a window overlooking the docks. She glanced over the light tricks that danced on the surface of the distant water; a bitter expression crossed her features as she turned her back and went to lay down.  
She drifted to sleep almost immediately.  
  
________________________________________  
  
She woke up to the room, soaked in the dim light of the sunset. She felt better, the migraine from before just a light nuisance behind her eyes, and thus she decided to take a quick shower and then head to the Palace.  
She caught sight of it that morning shortly after entering the city, even if from her distance she didn't fully see it, she thought it was magnificent, with its white walls and golden spires extending towards the sky.  
The voice had been silent then, but she felt something calling her from there, luring her to that place, and that was when the loneliness and hate began.  
She stepped out of the bath and in the towel and went barefoot to the bed to get dressed. She braided her still damp, dark curls, slipped into a loose blue dress with long puffy sleeves, and she secured her purse at the waistband. It had a hidden pocket in the left sleeve in which she placed a dagger... Just in case.  
Before leaving her room, she put a cloak on her shoulder, took a last look around, and closed the door.  
The city was quieter at that moment, without the peddlers' shouting, but still alive and full of colours. The tugging sensation in her chest grew stronger as she came closer to the Palace.  
When she was at its gates, golden shining even in the dark of the evening, it looked breathtakingly beautiful and way richer than what she thought that morning.  
  
 _"There you are, little pet. Come inside. I'm waiting for you."_  
  
The voice spoke again, and her headache came back. But it was weaker this time, and it didn't make her flinch, much to her surprise.  
Why wasn't it the same as the one she had just recovered from?  
She drew a deep breath, trying to focus and come up with a plan. She needed to get through the gate, but the guards that stood at the entrance would have stopped her if she tried. She could have waited for a chance to slip inside without being noticed, but it was getting late and cold. She couldn't wait so long.  
Her sight traveled over the perimeter wall, high and guarded, since she spotted a stream, coming right from behind the Palace.  
Hidden in the shadows, she took some steps towards it; the closer she got to that side, the more it looked quiet and abandoned. Some bricks off the wall were missing, and there were no signs of patrols nearby. The lights inside were all off, and looking more closely, she noticed that a set window was darker than the others as if the frames had been burned.  
Something screamed inside her mind. The Count died in a fire three years before, that must have been his wing.  
She came closer to the wall and decided to climb it by placing hands and feet in the spaces left empty by the lacking bricks. Once on top, she leaned forward considering the height of the jump but was quick to turn down the possibility: she didn't want to break her legs. She turned around and carefully swung a leg over the edge, trying to find a hole to place her foot, and when she did, slowly began her climb down.  
A sudden cracking noise startled her, and she lost her grip. Time slowed down while her heart threatened to break her rib-cage with its furious pace. A sound escaped her mouth while falling, and her stomach flipped over by the sensation of the void. She acted on instinct and drew her dagger out, stabbing the wall with desperate fury, hoping to get it stuck in the cracks of the irregular stones.  
Her fall stopped abruptly, and a sharp pain shot through her arm muscles, stretched at once. She did it—no broken legs.  
But the noise alerted the guards, and she could already hear them approaching with rushed steps and clanging armors.  
She realized with horror that she couldn't pull out the dagger from its position. Taking a frantic look at the ground under her feet, she decided that it was at a safe distance to jump without getting hurt, so she let go. The guards' voices were dangerously near. She darted towards the Palace, finding some bushes to hide in.  
From her spot, she saw them search the area, find the dagger stuck in the wall.  
"There's an intruder!" they shouted, voices fading in the distance along with the clattering of their armors.  
Now everything was going to be much more difficult. The guards alerted were probably looking for someone at the Palace, and she still didn't have a clue how to get in without being caught.  
And worst of all, she was unarmed.  
The thought made her heart skip a beat, and while she was focusing on how to get it back, something poked at her head, sending shivers down her spine as fear froze her in place.  
  
 _The guards._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said before, I welcome every constructive feedback, comments or kudos are highly appreciated. Hope you like this chapter <3

_The guards._  
  
Her mind went blank, except for a little voice in the back of her head, scolding her for not hearing the sound of their armor amidst the silence of the garden. She looked up slowly, getting ready to put up a fight for her freedom.  
Her eyes met the adorable snout of a beautiful, long-haired, white, dog.   
She felt the urge to scream her lungs out in frustration.  
They hadn't caught her, yet the animal was seriously pushing her luck by sniffing her and playfully barking. When she tried to hush it and send it away, she found herself even more assaulted by the whining creature that wanted to lick her face.   
"Stop it, please, be quiet!" she whispered anxiously to the waggling happy dog, trying to keep it at a distance with the left arm while with the right, she regained enough balance to sit on her heels.   
Once she did it -thankfully the animal had stepped back and shut up- she glanced around with worry on her face as she examined the garden around her. It was adjacent to the Palace and full of flowering shrubs that were probably a beautiful sight during the day. The area stretched out from the side where the burned wing was to a nearby colonnade, where she spotted a door that presumably led inside.  
For the time being, she was hiding far from the perimetral wall and out of sight, but she realised with horror that it was impossible to move towards the door without being seen from the guards.   
She shifted attention to the dog sniffing the air and saw it heading towards the wall of the tower behind her, disappearing.  
How was that even possible? She blinked in wonder and followed, careful not to get up. Coming closer, she found a hidden passage on the other side of what appeared to be a fake wall: of course, a building that vast must have had secret tunnels, she concluded.  
Once inside the narrow shaft, her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she caught a glimpse of a white tail ahead. She sighed, pondering how desperate was the idea of following it, but eventually deemed it as her only chance of escaping the guards since she didn't know the Palace. She sighed and hoped that the dog wasn't leading her right into the lion's den.   
Trying to keep its pace through the obscure path, she placed a hand on the stone wall to guide herself, body tensed and heartbeat fast.  
She eventually stepped out of the tunnel with her hairy companion, into a dusty and grey aisle, decorated by towering columns that supported the marble ceiling vaults. Between each of them hung an adorned chandelier whose beauty was just a feeble shadow of its original splendour, burned by the fire, covered in dust and ruined from years of neglect. The whole unpleasantly heavy atmosphere that squeezed the air lightened, broken by whimpers of another long-coated white dog, coming towards her with its tail wagging, happy to be reunited with its friend.  
  
 _"Do they... Do they like you? Melchior and Mercedes usually don't like nobody..."_ it was referring to the dogs, she guessed. _"Well, you are not a simple nobody, are you, little pet? You came so far all by yourself... Maybe the time has come for someone relevant to help me. Not like those two Magicians hired by the Countess, that do nothing but ignore me, like everyone else in this Palace. You know how difficult it is for everyone to praise me if all they do is running away screaming when they see me?"_ she sensed the frustration radiating from those last words.  
  
This time the voice was more than the usual whisper, loud as someone speaking right beside her, and the headache that started throbbing behind her eyes was the same she got at the gates: not in the slightest as painful as before.   
Confused, she wondered why. Was it because she was complying with what the voice wanted? It asked to come inside, and she did it. Was that the reason why it didn't hurt that bad anymore?   
A cold feeling at her hand startled her, and she took a step back, holding it to her chest in a defensive motion.   
The head rush caught her by surprise, and all of a sudden, the corridor was swirling before her eyes. She shut them close, trying to focus, and when she was feeling steadier, she cracked one eye open.   
_Much to her surprise, she wasn't in the Palace anymore. Instead, the desert surrounded her as she stood a few feet away from a familiar tent._  
 _Confused and shaky, she took a step towards it._  
 _"Grandma, grandma! I have something to show you!" screamed a childish voice coming from behind her._  
 _As she turned around, her eyes met the joyful ones of a little girl running in her direction, a hand up in the air holding something triumphantly over the head, her dark curls bouncing wildly around her face and caressing her cheeks._  
 _Was that... Herself?_  
 _The girl, clearly unable to see her, got through her body, and the action sent a weird tingling sensation to her skin._  
 _She followed the child towards the tent, a movement catching her attention as a short old woman showed up at the entrance, shielding her eyes from the sun with a hand, and holding a tarot deck in the other._  
 _Her heart was in her throat as she recognised the old lady from her childhood memories. Tears gathered in her eyes while she watched the woman's smile, so familiar and reassuring._  
 _"Thalia! What did you find this time?" the lady asked._  
 _The little girl stopped in front of her, showing something she held in her cupped hands._  
 _"It's a lizard, grandma! A fire lizard!!" she was almost screaming now, bouncing on her feet, tightening her grip on the little red creature she was carrying._  
 _Her grandma laughed, a heartwarming sound that caused a pang in her chest, for Thalia hadn't heard it in such a long time._  
 _"Be gentle with it; these lizards are shy and elusive. You should set it free so that it can go back where it belongs."_  
 _Her younger version pouted, taking a conflicted look at the animal in her hands, but eventually complied, much to her grandma's delight._  
 _Once on the ground, the little creature sat still for a moment, its colours perfectly blending in the sand's shade, then turned its head, staring at each of them, and ran away._  
 _"That was the right thing to do. You can't keep it against its will." her grandma said, gently stroking her head. "Now now, isn't it time for your daily tarot reading?" she concluded with a playful look in her eyes._  
 _Thalia had always loved Arcanas and card reading, and true to that thought, the little girl jumped for joy, clapping her hands in excitement._  
 _"Yes!" she squealed, sprinting inside._  
 _Her grandma stood longer at the entrance, scanning the distance as if she was searching for something. Even though she knew she couldn't see her, Thalia held her breath when their eyes met. The old woman smiled, a glint of mystery sparkling in her gaze, but as quick as it came the flash disappeared. She watched her turn, heading inside._  
  
Eventually, the memory faded away, its colours and shapes shifting into reality, and Thalia found herself in the dusty corridor with her back leaning against a column to support her trembling legs. It had been nice to see her grandmother again, she considered, remembering her wrinkled face and grey hair.   
But what was the meaning of that vision? She squeezed her eyes at her trembling legs, upset.   
How long did it last? She didn't even remember leaning against the wall for support. Wiping a hand over her face, Thalia let out a frustrated sigh. What if the guards found her while she wasn't aware of her surroundings? They could have easily caught her and chained her up in the Palace's dungeons. Thalia shivered; she felt vulnerable at the thought and therefore decided not to waste another moment in the corridor, stepping away from the wall. Turning around, she realized with worry that Melchior and Mercedes were nowhere to be found, and started eagerly looking for them. As she proceeded down the corridor, she eventually spotted their heads coming out from a recess in the wall. Approaching, the two animals came into view: they were sitting entwined in front of a red door, golden carvings decorating its surface.   
Maybe there was another passage inside, she thought, and the dogs stepped aside, whining in expectation as she rested her hand on the knob. They bolted inside as soon as she opened it, and Thalia followed them. Once inside, the torches on the wall lit up, casting an ominous light on the room, and the door behind her back snapped close.  
She turned swiftly and tried to reopen it, fumbling frantically with the handle, unsuccessfully.  
Thalia stopped, dread enveloping her like a cold coat and giving her goosebumps. Any loud noise could alert the guards, so she thought better to hit it and shout for her freedom. Instead, she turned and leaned her back against it. She was trapped, hearing voices in her head, while the guards were probably patrolling every corner of the Palace, looking for her. She felt so hopeless, tears swelling in her eyes as she slid on the floor, her legs giving out as a wrenching sob tore from her throat. She swallowed hard, fighting down the desperate cry that was threatening to escape her, and wiped her eyes. She wasn't giving up yet. They hadn't found her; she just needed to escape from the room.   
Thalia stared in front of her, at the red canopy bed standing in the center of the room. Its half-burned sheets, along with every other ruined piece of furniture beside it, gave the area an old and abandoned atmosphere.   
Melchior and Mercedes were running around with their nose stuck on the dirty floor, each breath sending around swirling clouds of dust. They stopped, tails waggling, in front of the majestic painting that took up a whole wall in the bedroom.   
Thalia got up from the floor, took the closer torch from the wall, and got near to examine it. It showed a blonde man of noble bearing, looking straight ahead with a fiery expression on his face, one foot on an animal skull, a golden prosthetic arm resting on his sword's hilt, and the other on his hip. Just for a second, she saw a red tinge in his eyes, but since they were back to grey in a blink of an eye, she blamed it on the unsteady source of light that cast strange shadows on it.  
Standing there, she felt like someone was watching her, even if the two dogs were her only company.  
  
 _"Oh, what a pleasure it is, to finally be able to sense your thoughts..."_  
  
The voice tore her from the scrutiny.   
What did it mean by that? Her thoughts?   
She opened her mouth to ask but was at a loss for words. Anxiety was already forming a lump in her throat and twisting her gut.   
They never talked before. To be more specific, she had actually asked many questions, but the voice never bothered answering any of them. It just came from nowhere, whispered some strange nonsense, and then was gone, leaving her in confusion.  
She wanted nothing but to get rid of it and go back to her life: that's what she told herself back in the desert. But she naively thought that it would have been easy to get into the Palace, find whatever magician was doing it, and threaten him until he stopped.   
However, things never went as planned, and at that point, she considered it a miracle the guards hadn't caught her yet.  
"Who are you? And where are you?" she managed to ask, finally swallowing her fear, but still, she didn't hold any hope of receiving an answer.  
  
 _"Oh, little pet... I couldn't hear you, as far away from the Palace as you were. But now I can, and on top of that, I can see you too: aren't you a sight for sore eyes!"_   
  
She shivered at the compliment and pondered its words. The voice implied she was now closer than before, but she still didn't have the faintest idea of where it came from or who was doing that.   
She caught a glimpse of bright red at the edge of her vision and turned quickly. She held her breath as her eyes landed on a barely visible shape near the bed; its transparent features were slightly dimming the lights on the wall behind it.  
Disbelief crossed her mind, along with a strange feeling of acquaintance, like she'd known it or seen it before but couldn't quite place where or when. She would remember seeing such peculiar creature, she thought, not just because of its spectral nature, but mainly due to the fact that the one standing in front of her was, in fact, the ghost of a goat.   
However, that wasn't merely the four-legged animal with hooves and bristly coat... That creature was something else entirely.   
It was standing on two feet, long horns menacingly towering over her, its back straight in an almost arrogant posture. It regarded her with an arched brow and a quite pleased and amused look in its bright red eyes.  
The sight made the next words die on her tongue, an expression of pure fear twisting her features. If she'd been wise, she would have run away without a second thought.   
Unfortunately, she was not.   
Needless to say, standing there wasn't an act of bravery, but rather panic.  
On the contrary, the moment they saw it, Melchior and Mercedes started running cheerfully back and forth around the ghost.  
"What... What are you?" she asked tentatively, "Are you the one I keep hearing inside my mind?"  
"Yes, my dear." the spectre said, its voice now real as her own, and he flashed her a sinister grin. "As for what I am," he continued, "That's precisely the reason why you're here." he took some steps around, circling and appraising her, causing discomfort to bloom in her chest. She was considering his words, but he stopped in his track and resumed talking, distracting her. "This is obviously not my real appearance, and you, my little one, are the one bringing me back as I was!"   
Unbridled enthusiasm faded from his face when he saw the confusion on hers. He sighed with a patronizing expression, as he was speaking to a capricious child.   
"I am aware that this-" he gestured to his own body "is highly misleading, but do not fret! It's actually me, Count Lucio, you're talking to."  
Those last words, meant to convince her, left her instead mouth agape at the realization. That reaction didn't go unnoticed by the Count, as sudden waves of anger and hurt danced in succession on his face.  
"You didn't recognize me." He spat out with an accusing tone, acting wounded profoundly by her bewilderment.   
The pain was short-lived, though, and soon amusement replaced it. From what she had heard of him, the Count was whimsical and inconstant in every aspect of his life. Apparently, his emotions weren't an exception.   
"Don't worry, I won't get offended by that, I understand it must be difficult to see beyond this awful form," he stressed the tone on that word, clearly hating his condition.   
"And that's why I need you to take me back to life."  
At that point, Thalia was overwhelmed by the emotions that swirled in her chest. Anger built up, as she thought back to her painful headaches, her journey to Vesuvia, and the danger she encountered in the Palace.   
"Back to life?!" she barked, taking a step towards Lucio and placing her hands on her hips as he retreated with a worried expression. "What on earth makes you believe I'm capable of that? You don't even know my name, let alone my abilities!" she concluded nearly shouting, had her voice escalated at every word.   
She wasn't thinking straight, too angry over his pretentious request, every concern over being too noisy was nothing but an old echo inside her mind.  
The Count looked startled by her reaction and cast her a confused glance. "Well, I..." his eyes danced insecure from her face to their surrounding, trying to avoid her darting gaze. He muttered something under his breath, but she couldn't hear it. "What did you just say?"  
He glanced at her eventually, and a moment after his face lit up. "I was saying, I don't know much about magic..." his words trailed off a bit as though he was making them up on the spot. "but if my voice got to you... That must mean that you are somehow a Magician yourself!"  
Thalia shot him a perplexed look weighing his words and knitted her brows in a pensive expression.   
"Sounds to me like you didn't have a clue on what you were doing." She concluded eventually, looking puzzled.  
Again, Lucio wasn't looking her in the eyes. "Err... " his voice steeped in unmistakable uncertainty. "I suppose I wasn't looking for someone particularly, just trying to get some help. And I succeeded." He grinned proudly. He looked just like a kid who was searching for approval, she thought.   
"What's your name?" The Count snapped her out of her thinking, and she wasn't sure she heard him right. His tone had been too low, and she was too busy mulling over the implications of her situation. He stood, awaiting a response with a brow arched in curiosity, looking at her.  
"Excuse me?"   
"You said I didn't even know your name, and you were right. I never bothered asking, but I am now." he paused, expectant. "What's it, then?"   
"Thalia." she huffed.  
"Well, Thalia," he stopped, savoring her name on his lips. "I need you. And from what I heard in your thoughts," Thalia shivered at the easiness in his words, as if her mind wasn't something private. "the only thing that could repay for your help is going back to your boring life." He regarded her oddly. "I will leave you be, assuming that it will still be your wish when I am back. But I must warn you: since I'm irresistible, you will most likely change your mind." he winked, his lips spread in a sly smile.   
Thalia was about to retort, but resounding voices outside the door scared her. She took some steps back, looking around for a place to hide. Instinctively she got inside the closet, her heart beating so loud in her chest that she swore, in the silence of the room, anyone could hear it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third chapter came out a little bit longer than I expected, so it took longer to update. Besides, quarantine is becoming more and more challenging for my mental health, and I'm trying to take care of it, but I hope you like it anyway and that you are and stay safe in these challenging times.

Luckily, the cabinet was large enough for her to fit between the multitude of uniforms hanging on the racket, but not enough to move without hearing the wood creaking. Scared to be found, she tried her best to keep still and calm her breathing, but the small amount of air in there was full of a floral and musky scent that burned in her nostrils with every breath, making her head dizzy as drops of sweat started beading her forehead.  
"Do you think we'll find anything helpful inside?" a muffled voice came from the other side of the door.  
"I hope so, they searched the bedroom for evidence right after the fire but couldn't find anything. It has been untouched since then."   
Thalia was peeking through the crack between the doors, trying to control her breathing and heartbeat. The sound of a clicking lock echoed in the room, suddenly flooded with light as two figures stepped inside. She could partially make out their features as they circled the bed, one of them kneeling to check under it while the other one examined the sheets and turned to open one by one the night table's drawers. Thalia was leaning on the doors careful not to touch them, her nose almost sticking out of the crack she was using to spy on them. With their back turned to her, she was finally able to identify the couple as a boy and a girl, the first wearing violet robes that complemented his olive skin and contrasted with his white hair he continuously ruffled by running a hand in it while thinking. The girl was short and blond, her hair cut into a bob that caressed her small shoulders, hunched in a slouched posture, which gave her an insecure aura that clashed with the way she held her head and her pointed nose high up in the air while she spun on herself and crossed the room. Thalia realized she was heading towards the portrait.  
The boy rose from his kneeling position, turned to face her direction, and stopped midtrack while patting on his robes to free them of dust, his expression lighting up as he stared at an undefined point on the ground between her hiding spot and himself. Thalia followed his gaze, her eyes landing on an extinguished torch, and she had to bite her tongue to hold back a curse. All her experience and world-traveling should have taught her how to hide her tracks, but in that single confused and hurried moment, she forgot them all and must've dropped it without realizing it, a mistake that could cost her freedom. The boy bent down to pick the torch up, and after examing it, he looked around suspiciously, his attention eventually focusing on the closet. Her stomach dropped when they almost made eye contact, and Thalia abruptly shut her eyes in fear, turning her head to the side. She dipped her nose into a suit jacket, inhaled its sweet scent, held her breath, and counted the seconds with her heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears, waiting for him to open the door and find her trembling and poorly hidden figure beneath the uniforms.  
"Asra, come take a look!" the girl's voice was coming from the other side of the room, and Thalia let out a relieved sigh when she heard the boy's footsteps fade away as he turned from her, heading towards his partner.   
"It's weird, isn't it? It looks like there's no wall behind it.." she heard her say. "Let me check one thing.." her tone trailed off, and suddenly a shrieking noise filled the air, followed by the sound of turning gears, and Thalia felt the cabinet trembling slightly under her feet like they were dragging something heavy on the floor.   
"Is this a secret passage? Where do you think it leads?"  
"Let's find out, but before stepping inside, let me do this." there was a pause, and Thalia felt her skin prickle as goosebumps formed on her arms. "I cast a protection spell on us both, just in case. Let's go."  
Their voices faded away, and Thalia sighed in relief, weighing her options. Bolting out of the room to go back to her life as it was before, running away from all she'd seen up to that moment was tempting, but Thalia doubted the voice would leave her alone. Besides, what was the point of going back if she still suffered from those bad headaches? The pain had been lighter since she had been in the Palace, and that was making her feel as energetic as she hadn't been in a long time, free from the ache. She eventually decided to sneak inside the passage and follow the pair, slowly pushing a door open and peeking outside to make sure none was coming back. When she stepped out of the closet, taking a deep breath, her lungs expanded in relief. Even if it smelled of ashes and burn, the air was better there, she thought, searching around to spot Lucio's ghost, unsuccessfully. Her eyes landed on the portrait, but all she found was an opening where it had been. Thalia shivered, approaching to examine the passage: the painting had slid to the side, revealing a staircase that descended into darkness, scarcely light up by a pair of torches on the wall. She swallowed her discomfort, trying to keep her hands from trembling, and placed a hesitant foot on the first step.  
_I have a bad feeling about this_ , she thought, the dim firelight barely illuminating the place.   
At the bottom of the stairs, the corridor stretched out into a vast dining room, with a big table in the center, completely set and ready for a feast. Thalia's breath stopped when she spotted the two figures encircling it, their back turned to her, and reacted instinctively before her mind could even formulate logical reasoning. She pressed her back against the wall, palms spread on the cold stone as she stilled herself and tried to control her furious heartbeat.  
She saw Asra turning to the table, an absent expression twisting his features, as he grabbed something from a bowl. Thalia followed his gaze to the plates, realizing that they were full of stale food, and the moment she landed her eyes on it, the stench brutally hit her nose, causing a nauseous wave in her stomach that threatened to send her on her knees, throwing up.   
When she saw the boy trying to sit on a chair, her skin started to prickle, and her hands warmed up. She heard herself shout, a low instinctive sound escaping her lips, but it was like her body was acting on his own volition, shooting out a hand as a cold breeze oozed from her palms towards Asra, hitting him. Whatever she did seemed to work, because the boy recovered from his trance state and stared at her, stopping mid-track from sitting on the chair.   
Her mind was twirling, and the moment she saw them both glancing at her with eyes full of surprise was painfully stretched out, but right after it, things happened fast. Finally able to control herself again, Thalia turned on her heels, bolting on the stairs as fast as she could, but she heard the girl shouting out the words "Stop her!" and suddenly, she was unable to command her own body, freezing on the spot.  
"Who are you, and why are you here?" Asra asked, and when her feet turned to them out of control, she glanced harshly at the pair standing two steps below her. Thalia cursed mentally.  
"Why do you care?" she spat angrily, teeth bared like a beast in a cage.  
Asra blinked, his eyes darting to the girl beside him and then back to her. His brows furrowed.   
"You're difficult to restrain." he admitted. "But I just wanted to thank you. We're not here to harm you, and even if you broke into the Palace..." Thalia shivered at his words. He knew! Her stomach dropped at the thought, her limbs cold with dread and anxiety.   
"... We won't hand you to the guards." he concluded with a smile.  
Was that some kind of tactic to earn her trust? She thought in confusion.  
Asra's smile widened at her expression. "It was just a suspicion, but now you confirmed it. No need to worry though, I'm sure that if you had meant to harm us, you wouldn't have saved me."  
"I... I-" She stuttered. What was she thinking, blowing up her situation like that? She was scared, but still couldn't move, as the boy was holding her in place with magic.   
"I'm Asra, and she-" he pointed to the girl that had come to stand beside him "-is Nora, my apprentice. We're here to investigate on the Count's death."  
Thalia's eyes danced between the two of them. "A-apprentice?" she muttered.  
Asra was now visibly panting, struggling to keep the magic up. "Yes, we... We're magicians." he conceded.   
Thalia was suddenly able to clench and unclench her palms and realized that the more his fatigue showed, the more she found herself regaining control of parts of her body.  
"Asra..." Nora called him softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.  
With that, he released her completely, panting and leaning on Nora to keep himself straight up.  
Thalia considered his words and actions while regarding the two with suspicion. He seemed sincere; his behavior had been defensive, but Thalia didn't trust them anyway.   
"Can you help us?" Nora asked out of the blue, eyes boring into hers with an unsettling intensity. She stared at her and blinked in surprise. Why did everyone Thalia met ask for her assistance? She arched a brow, considering her options with logic. The situation was growing more complicated, but the choice was between them or the ghostly goat-Count that wanted to come back, and the guards, and Thalia didn't want to end up in the Palace's dungeons.   
"You're a magician too, is that right?" pressed Asra, distracting her mind from the reasoning.  
Her glance danced between the two of them, a confused look in her eyes.   
"I- No, I'm not." she never had anything to do with magic, her most recent job had been reading the cards, which she sincerely enjoyed doing since a kid, but she never experienced anything magic in that.  
"But what you did back there..." Nora was objecting, but seeing Asra shaking his head in her direction, she stopped mid-sentence and reconsidered her own words. "I must thank you again for acting promptly and saving my master!" the girl finally concluded.  
"Well, why don't we go upstairs and discuss the situation in a safer place? It's too dangerous to linger in this room." Asra suggested.  
Nora stepped on the stairs with Asra on her side, and Thalia noticed he was still leaning unnoticeably towards her to stand on his feet.  
Once alone, her body relaxed, and she collapsed on the wall, the tension slowly ebbing away, replaced by strange tiredness settling in her limbs and guiding her towards the ground.  
"Don't worry about Asra. I think he likes you." Lucio's voice chuckled in her head. "But now, it looks like I was right about you, you're a magician too! Now you have no excuses but to help me."  
Anger bubbled up in her chest as she looked around, hoping to spot his figure. "No, I'm not! I don't know what is going on with all of you, but I'm not a magician! Just let me be!" she nearly shouted, but the Count remained disturbingly silent. She looked around one last time, glancing one last time towards the rotten food on the table with disgust, and headed upstairs.   
"Do you think we can trust her?" she heard Nora calmly asking while emerging into the bedroom.  
"Well, we just met her, I can't say. But she saved me, and she's capable of magic, even though not at a conscious level. We may help her develop her powers, and besides, we could use a hand in this situation, even better, a magical one."  
Thalia crossed the room and stepped into the corridor where Asra and Nora were talking, smoothing her robes and wiping away the dust.  
"So, what's your name?" Nora asked again, her emerald eyes scrutinizing her.  
Growing up in the desert, she had quickly learned that skepticism was an underestimated quality, and that conviction got stronger as she grew older and explored the world. But she decided to share with them that insignificant piece of information that was her name since they had meant no harm until that moment.  
"I am Thalia."  
"Well, Thalia, what were you doing inside the Count's bedroom?" Asra asked, eyeing her curiously.  
She sighed. They just met, and she had enough of questioning for the day. "I was curious." she muttered, opting for an evasive answer.  
"I see." he didn't appear to be satisfied with her words, but let it slid eventually. "And did you see something strange inside? How long have you been there?"  
"By strange, do you mean besides the portrait hiding a secret passage, the creepy dining room, and the fact that there are ashes from the fire covering everything in there, but most of the furniture looks undamaged? Because that alone seemed strange enough to me." she arched a brow, hoping that her sarcastic answer stopped him from prying further on the motives why she had been there in the first place. "And I was just running from the guards, when I found the door you left open and thought of hiding in there." lying came easy, as she was used to it: she did it so many times in her past, learning to make up for excuses gradually more and more convincing as she grew up.  
"What a lucky coincidence then." Asra grinned mischievously.  
"Do you think we should tell the Countess what we found?" the girl asked, interrupting the uneasy questioning.  
Thalia shot her a worried stare, and set a foot behind, ready to bolt away.  
"No, Thalia, don't worry! I meant the moving portrait thing!" Nora quickly explained, waving her hand in embarrassment for the misunderstanding. Asra smiled condescendingly and nodded. "I think the Countess will be happy to hear about our discovery, and maybe we could introduce her to our new assistant?" he asked and stared at Thalia, awaiting her reaction. She nodded briefly, silently agreeing to help them. Did she have any other choice? Besides -even though Thalia would never admit it out loud- she could use a little help too.   
"It's settled then!" Nora exclaimed, joyfully grabbing her arm and smiling. Thalia shivered and recoiled, shrugging her limb free from her grasp and stepping back, a knot settling in her stomach while holding her arm to her chest like she'd been wounded.  
"Y-yes," her tone was hesitant. "J-just, don't touch me." she explained to her confused expression.   
"Oh." Nora's lips curved in a perfect circle. "Okay, sorry about that, I should have asked before doing that." she scratched the back of her head while her cheeks flushed lightly from the embarrassment.   
"Well, we should head to Nadia then." Asra concluded, breaking the tension of their weird exchange, and the three started walking wordlessly down the corridor.

* * *

  
The Countess was sitting on the terrace when the trio arrived, a peaceful place drowned in the moonlight, illuminating her violet long hair and her olive skin with its pale shade.   
"So, you're Thalia." Nadia stated calmly, her long lashes blinking at her.  
The girl gulped down the embarrassment, trying to ease her dry throat, and Asra nodded. "Yes, Countess, as I said, she's here to help and saved me from a secret room behind your departed husband's portrait." the white-haired magician smiled towards Thalia.   
"And she's also good at magic!" Nora exclaimed, "I'm sure that we could use another hand to solve the mystery!"  
Nadia was staring at Thalia, and the girl shivered from the intensity of her scrutiny, but the woman eventually smiled enigmatically.  
"I trust your judgments, magicians." she paused. "Thalia, you're welcome to stay if you wish. It's late, and Vesuvia's streets are not a safe place to wander at night."  
Thalia lowered her head, breaking eye contact. Her body was screaming in exhaustion from the adventurous evening, and the offer was tempting. "I-I think it would be an honor, at least for tonight." She managed to say, her cheeks flushing as she regarded her with gratitude in her eyes. "That's amazing." the Countess' smile widened. "Portia!"  
A girl with bright red curls tied in a ponytail came into view from the door, attracting everyone's attention.  
"Yes, Milady? Is there anything wrong?" her blue eyes scanned the three of them lingering longer on Thalia, but eventually slid to the Countess.  
"No, Portia, I just need you to lead our new guest, towards one of the guest bedrooms. She's staying for the night." the Countess regarded her, slightly tilting her head. "And I presume she doesn't have a change of clothes, right?" Thalia blushed even harder at that, nodding. "So maybe we can provide some clean ones while washing what she's wearing?"  
"As you wish, Milady." Portia bowed courteously and turned towards Thalia, smiling.

  
Nora and Asra decided to meet her the next morning at the library, and when they bid her goodnight, she found Portia waiting for her in the corridor.   
"Hi, I'm Portia! Nice to meet you!" the girl's lips curled into a smile as she regarded her. "I can't believe you made it inside the Palace without being caught!" she whispered animatedly, excitement dripping from her words and a playful look in her eyes.  
Thalia shot her a confused glance, was she complimenting her? For doing something illegal?   
"Yes, I mean.." Portia resumed her talking. "I know you shouldn't have! But I must say, we increased our defenses after the Count's death! The Countess nearly triplicated the guards' number, and there's always someone patrolling the perimetral wall. That sounds like something pretty impossible to do, that's why I'm impressed!" Portia shrugged, explaining.  
"Oh, ehm, thank you, I guess." but Thalia half-smile didn't reach her eyes as she reconsidered her actions, remembering the dagger she left behind.  
"What's bothering you?" the words hit her with surprise, and finding Portia's curious look focused on her, she blushed like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  
"Do you know if it's... Possible to have my dagger back?" Thalia understood that her request could be raising suspicion, but she asked it anyway. When the redhead's eyes widened in worry, stopping in her track, Thalia was quick to explain.  
"It's- it's not like that! I know that it may sound like I'm plotting something, but it's just," her voice lowered for a second, as her expression suddenly filled with sadness, and she tried to come out with adequate words to express it. "It means the world to me." she concluded with a sigh.  
"I see. Maybe I can ask the guards if they kept it." Portia's look was kind and understanding as she spoke, and her fingers brushed Thalia's arm lightly, trying to comfort her. "Thank you." she murmured, flinching visibly at the contact. The redhead didn't notice it, as she had already lowered her hand and turned to a door, fumbling with a set of keys.  
When she opened it, Portia stepped aside, letting her in.  
Thalia held her breath at the sight of the room, beautifully decorated with bright-colored embellishment on the walls and ceiling.   
To her left, there was a red canopy bed adorned with thick hanging curtains that fell elegantly on the floor on both sides. The mattress looked extremely comfortable and on its top lay two pairs of so soft-looking pillows that Thalia had to restrain herself from jumping on it on the spot to get some rest. On the opposite wall, beside the door that she presumed led to the bathroom, stood a mirrored closet and a mahogany desk.  
"This is your room. There are clothes in the closet. You can leave yours in the laundry basket that you'll find in the bathroom, and they'll be ready by tomorrow evening." Portia smiled softly.   
"I can't thank you enough for this." her voice was filled with sincerity as she met the girl's eyes.   
"You should thank the Countess and her good soul." Portia winked playfully. "Goodnight, Thalia."  
"Goodnight, Portia."   
The redhead retreated, the door closing behind her with a soft thud, leaving Thalia alone.

  
The bathroom was marvelous and far more luxurious than she could have ever imagined or experienced in her entire life, she thought, placing a foot in the pleasantly hot water. The moment she relaxed into it, her whole body just melted, and she moaned at the sensation, stepping inside with a smile on her face while contemplating the idea of spending the night there, lulled to sleep by the water.  
Half an hour later, she was still in there, basking in the warmth, as sweet bath salts intoxicated her nostrils. Her hands absentmindedly trailed the faded outline of a nasty scar she had on her belly, a habit she slowly developed a long time ago when she got the mark. Her eyes trailed on the walls and ceiling, splendidly decorated in white and gold, engulfed in a light fog from the vapor that the bath emanated, clouding the many mirrors in the room. She drowned in memories, unsuccessfully trying to find a time when she had experienced such calm and relaxedness, back to when her life had been uncomplicated and serene. Inevitably, her thoughts shifted to the moment it all changed, when she was only sixteen, the safety of a home and warmth of an embrace taken away from her as the nightmare began. Thalia shivered, and tears swelled in her eyes, remembering the group of ferocious mercenaries that attacked the tent where she lived with her grandma. Her parents died before she had any memory of them, and it had always been the two of them against the world, for what she could remember.  
Thalia recoiled from her thinking, reaching for the shampoo, and starting washing her hair. The subsequent years of trying to survive in the desert had been the scariest part of her life: full of rage, tears, and fear. Even at that moment, recalling those memories many years later, those sensations roared in her chest, demanding to be heard. But she still wasn't able to do so and tried to set aside every image that was flooding her senses at that moment, focusing on her locks and scalp. During the last two years, her mind had been her most significant enemy, being the only one that she couldn't face or kill, it was always pushing her back to that part of her life she so desperately wanted to remove.  
After what it felt like ages, a sharp noise from the bedroom snapped her out of her state, alarming her already overwhelmed senses. She jumped to her feet, the water trailing down her body, shivering at the cold air that hit her. Thalia grabbed a towel, wrapped herself in it, and kept it in place with an arm, while the other picked up a candlestick from a sideboard near the door. She bolted out of the bathroom on her trembling and still too relaxed legs, sending drops of water everywhere and examining the room, with her improvised weapon held in a defensive motion. Her breath got caught in her throat, and she almost screamed as she spotted, sitting on the bed and resting his head on the only arm he got, the Count's ghost.  
"What-" she tried to formulate a proper sentence to insult him, unsuccessfully, choking on a scream and feeling all the bath's refreshing effects gone the moment their eyes met.  
"Beautiful," he murmured with a lascivious grin on his face, eyeing her body from head to toe with a pleased expression stamped on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it, and if you did -but also if you didn't- please let me know.  
> Thank you.


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